Ski Touring? Why skiing without ski lifts isn’t rubbish.

James    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts     off piste, ski holidays, ski resort, ski touring, Skiing, Skiing Holidays

In the first of a new occasional series explaining the basics of less well-known adventure sports, we use the classic journalistic trick of a fake interview to give a basic overview of the activity, starting with SKI TOURING

So, What is Ski touring?

Ski touring is skiing without lifts. Using special bindings you can hike up and then ski down slopes and make cross country routes.

Ski Touring and free from the slopes. Image Flickr/ Stephan Mantler

So it’s like skiing but with no ski lifts? Sounds rubbish.

If you think of it purely as hugely inconvenient regular skiing then you’d be right. The ski touring experience has more in common with hiking but with the added bonus of having a lot more fun on the downward sections.

I’ve tried walking up hills in skis. You just slide backwards!

With ski touring you attach a grippy felt layer called a skin on the bottom of each ski. The skins, which were made from seal skin in the old days, ensure that you can grip the snow with the bottom of the skis and can easily walk up slopes. You then take off the skin when you want to ski down.

What’s the difference between ski touring, backwoods skiing and ski mountaineering?

Ski touring, backwoods skiing and ski mountaineering are essentially the same. What the British and Europeans call ski touring, the Americans call Backwoods Skiing. Ski Mountaineering is the same except the slopes are a bit steeper as you might guess by the name.

Why would I want to do it?

The advantages over skiing in resorts are that you can go ski touring anywhere in the world. You can create new routes that have never been skied as well as cross ranges on multi day tours staying in refuges. The Haute Route in the Alps is probably the best known high altitude ski touring route. You can also cross terrain that would be impossible in the summer like marshland and ski in countries that have no ski infrastructure like Afghanistan. With these skiing holidays You can get away from the crowds, the cheesy music and the piste and just enjoy yourself in nature with just you, your skis and as much powder as you want.

Hmmmm, sounds alright! What are the disadvantages?

As with all off-piste skiing, you do have to think a lot more about safety when going ski touring. Are the places you are going covered by mountain rescue? What are the conditions? Are you suddenly going to ski into a crevase or off a cliff?

What equipment would I need to get started?

You need a set of bindings that allow you to alternate between having a free and a fixed heel. This allows you to walk when heading uphill but have good performance when skiing. As mentioned earlier, skins are also essential. As for the skis, well it is up to the skier but it is always a balance between weight and performance. Whatever you want to ski down with you have to carry up. If you are a boarder or don’t want to use your fixed bindings, then there is also an option of snowshoing up with skis and board in the backpack.

Post by James Willcox from Untamed Borders

Next Month – Yak Polo

About the author

James Wilcox wrote 7 articles on this blog.

I work as a tour guide in Central Asia for Untamed Borders Ltd. My patch is Afghanistan, Pakistan and sometimes India leading cultural, ski and trekking tours. Despite working in areas of the world that are 2000km from the sea I also love Scuba diving in the ocean.

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